Method of packaging cellulosic pads



De@ 31, 1946- c. A. FouRNEss E'rm.I 2,413,556

lETHoD oF PACKAGING cELLuLosIc PADS Filed Dec. 3, 1942 3 Shoots-Shut 1 Dec. 3l, 1946.

. c. A. FouRNEss sul.

METHOD QF PAGKAGING CELLULUSIG PADS Filed Doc. 3, 1942 3 Sheets-Shoot 2 lui-' Dec. 31, 1946. Q A, yEQURNESS ET AL 2,413,556 f METHOD OF PACKAGING CELLULOSIC PADS Filed Deca, 1942 s sheets-sheet :s

C oumeas. Il, J nne/J/alwood 24M vm mwa@ Patented Dee. 31, 1946l UNITED STATE METHOD F PACKAGING CELLULOSIC PADS Charles A. Fourness, Appleton, and Kenneth J.

Harwood, Neenah, Wis., assignors to International; Cellucotton Products Company, a corporation of Delaware Application December s, 1942, serial Nq. 467,152

s claims. 1

The present invention relates to compressed, multi-ply, creped cellulosic products and to improved methods and procedures for packaging such products. Products of this general type comprises, pad or bat which is made by superposing a plurality of generally flat sheets or layers of thin, creped, cellulosic tissue and then compressing the bat lengthwise in a direction substantially perpendicular to creping therein so` as to reduce the length of the pad or bat, Iwithout substantial change in the thickness or width thereof, and to increase the unit density of the pad or bat within the` range of about 2 to 20 times. The individual sheets may be of plain cellulosic tissue or they may contain asphalt or other materials.

As will hereinafter appear, the present inventionvis concerned particularly with pads or bats made of plain tissue, this product being widely used in hospitals for surgical and related purposes. For this use, the compressed product has very great advantages: it can be readily handled, stored, and transported while in the compressed state, and it canbe reexpanded to the normal,v low density, high absorptive state by simply stretching the pad or bat. These characteristics of the product are of great value in noru mal times, and are of particular value in time of War. v

However, certain dimculties have arisen in the provision of satisfactory packaging for the comings and the following description of certain preferred embodiments thereof. In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a, plan view of an apparatus which we have found particularly suitable in the practice of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is asectional view on the of Fig. 1;

vgeneral line 2-2 Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6 are enlarged, fragmentary,

sectional views on the lines 3 3, 4-4, 5-5 and 6 6, respectively, of Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a compressed pad or bat of the type to which the present invention relates before packaging;

Fig. 8 is a perspective view illustrating an intermediate step in one of the packaging procedures of the present invention;

Fig. 9 is a perspective view, partiallyin cut away section, showing the completed package o plurality of superposed sheets I3, as illustrated in pressed m'aterial.- Since the material is used mainly for surgical purposes the package must be air tight and capable of being made sterile. To save weight, shipping and storage space the package should be light and should occupy a minimum .I

of space. At the s ame time the package must be quite strong mechanically, in order to hold the pad orbat in the compressed state, and to facilitate handling and storage the package must re-` main fiat until opened for use. The packaging procedures heretofore known to the art have not provided a package capable of meeting the above the enlarged portion of Fig. 7; the creping in all or substantially all of the sheets extends in the same direction, and the individual sheets I3 have a. basis weight (i. e., weight of flat uncreped sheets) within the range of from 4 to 9 pounds for 480 sheets, 24 x 36 inches. In the products used for hospitalor surgical purposes, the sheets I3 normally contain in excess of 95% of pure cellulosic fiber. The sheets I3 are manufactured on the Yankee type machine and as manufactured they have a crepe ratio (i. e., the yratio of the length of the uncreped sheet to the length of the creped sheet) of from about 2 to 3.

In making the compressed pad II, a proper number of the sheets I3 are superposed one on top of the other with the creping in all'orvsubstantially all of the sheets running transversely to the length of the bat. The pad or bat is then longitudinally compressed, preferably without substantial change in its thickness or width, to reduce its length and simultaneously to increase the unit density thereof within the range of from 2 to 20 times. Apparatus such as that disclosed in Neller Patent No. 2,303,087, which is assigned to the assignee of this invention, may be used for effecting this compression.

As previously pointed out, the product used fo hospital or surgical purposes must be packaged a-,siaeso requirements is complicated, because of the tendency of the compressed product to re-expand following `the compressing operation. This necessitates the use of a strong restraining means for holding the pad or bat inthe package, while at the same time, to save space, itis necessary that the package shall-not add materially to the bulk of the product.

`l Y turned up as illustrated at 33 f Fig. 3, the spacing of the kturned up portion. 33 `being approxi- .mately equal to the desired iinal width of the pad or bat. The upper Jawv 33 is of a complementary shape havingdownwardly depending sde portions il which extend over 'the upstanding side-portions 33 of the lower jaw 35l as illustrated particularly in Fig. 3. The upper Jaw 33 The apparatus which we prefer to use in the manufacture of the package and product oi'our invention is illustrated as a whole in Fig. l, and detailed illustrations are contained in Figs. 2 and 6. Generally, the apparatus comprises a belt type compressing mechanism which effects controlled reccmpression of the pad or bat preliminary to the packaging, means for holding the pad or bat in the compressed state when it is discharged from the compressing mechanism and while an initial wrapping or container isl applied thereto, and a.` second holding means which holds' the compressed pad or bat in its initial wrapping while a second wrapping or container is put in place thereon.

In the practice of the present invention, pads or bats I which have'prevlously been compressed,

and which have been cut to proper size, are delivered to a'workg table indicated generally at |1, in Fig. -1. Because of the stresses set up within the compressed product during the compress- -ing operation, there is substantial re-expansion of the cut pads or cats Il before they reach the work table l1. As a result recompression is necessary, in order to restore the compressed pad or bat to the desired density and dimensions for packaging. Y

The re-compressor includes a converging nozzle or chute yI9 which is rectangular in cross section and through which the pad or bat is-propelled by' means or two flexible belts 2|, which of themselves form two of the sides of the noa-l zle. I3 may comprise flat, polished, metal plates 23 and 25, and to facilitate entry of the pad or bat therebetween, the upper plate 23 may be cut away and beveled as illustrated at 21'.

The belts 2| may be of any suitable composition material, and should have a width substantially equal to the separation .of the top and bottom plates 23 and 25. The belts are supported upon suitable pul1eys29 and are driven at equal linear speed by any suitable means, not shown. It is desirable that backing supports be .provided for the belts 2| as illustrated at 3|; considerable stress is required to compress the Dads or bats as they pass through the chute I9, and in the absence of these backing supports 3| excessive belt tension may be required.

The re-compressor chute I8 discharges into a The top and bottom of the nozzle orchutev bat holding structure which comprises a pair of opposed, ilat surfaced, jaw members 33 and 35 made of sheet metal and provided with V-shaped slots 3| for ,facilitating the grasping and handling of the pad orbat after the initial wrapper or Vcontainer is applied thereto. The details of the jaw members 33 and 35 are shown particularly in Figs. 2 and 3. The lower jaw 35 is iixedly supported, at its inner end only, upon the table with its upper surface co-planar with the upper surface of the bottom plate 25 of the chute i9. The outer edges of the lower jaw are is hingedly supported for rotatable movement toward and away from the lower jaw 35 by means o! a shaft 43, which is supported on the work table I1 by suitable bearing supports 45. and is biased in the direction of the lower jaw 35 by vadjustable tension springs 41.

' The mechanism for applying the second or out er wrapper or container to the pad or batl includes a dat support plate 43 which is supported on the work table Il by a guide member 5I andl frame members 52. The upper surface cf the plate 43 is co-planar with the upper surface of the lower unit 55 of a second pair of Jaw members 53 and 55. The law members 53 and 55 are likewisev formed of sheetmetal and lare provided with cut-away. generally v-shaped, slots 51 for facilitating the handling and grasping of the pad or bat during the packaging operation. The lower jaw member 55 is fixedly supported, at its inner end only, on the work table and has upstanding side portions 53. The upper I:law member 53 has depending side portions 8| wil-ch extend along and cooperate with the corresponding sideprtions '59 of the lower jaw member 55. The upper jaw member 53 is hingedly supported 'on the work table I1 so as to be movable toward and away from the lower Jaw member 55 by a shaft 53 and suitable bearings 35. If desired, adjustable tension springs 81, similar to the springs 41, vmay be provided for biasing the upper jaw 53 .in the direction of the lower jaw 55.

As previously stated, the compressed pads or bats arel received at the work'table I1 in a somewhat expanded state. AsV the first step in the packagingprocedure of the present invention, one of these pads I is placed on the left hand table portion 33 of the lower plate 25 and is pushedinto the space between the upper and lower plates 23 and 25 of the recompressor chute I9. The belts 2| which move in the directions indicated by the arrows in Fig. 1, carry the 96d or bat Il through the recompressor chute I9 and propel it into the space between the two jaws 33 and 35. This movement of thepad Il through the converging chute is'eil'ects automatic recompressionof the pad. and since the recompressed pad is immediately moved into the space between the jaw members 33 and 35 re-expansion thereof is prevented by the jaw members.

Prior to the recompressing operation, a tube or sleeve 39v of paper, fabric, or other sheet matehave a length approximately 4equal to the length of the pad and a perimetrical dimension which is likewise approximately equal to the corresponding dimension of `the pad side dimensions of the jaws are likewise approximately equal to the dimensions desired in the nal product. The movability'v of the upper jaw 33 is relative tothe lower Jaw 35. and the cantileversupportmeans for the :lawsv permits the sleeve 33 to belreadily slipped thereover.

The in- The operation of the recompressor forces the recompressed pad or bat Il between the two jaw members about which is disposed the sleeve 69, as above stated. With the pad II in this position, itis possible for the operator to grasp both the pad I! and the sleeve member 69 in the areas exposed by the slots 31 ,in the jaw members and to withdraw both the sleeve and the pad simultaneously from the jaws. If necessary, the jaws may be slightly compressed in order to facilitate this movement.

The sleeve 69 will now be positioned about the pad II with its longitudinalv axis extending substantially parallel to the lines of creping in the constituent sheets making .up the pad II, as illustrated in Fig. 8. The tubular sleeve 69 which is joined along the edges 1I, has sufficient strength to restrain the rpad or bat from longitudinal expansion, but this arrangement will not prevent buckling in all instances, and it does not provide an air and dust-tight package which is desired.

As the next step in'the packaging procedure of the invention, the pad or bat I I, with the sleeveI 69 in place thereon, is placed upon the platform plate 49 againstl the guide 5I and is slid in the direction of its width into position between the jaws 53 and 55, as illustrated particularly in Figs. l, 5, and 6. It will be noted that the lines of creping in the pad II and the closed sides of the sleeve 69 extend crosswise of the second pair of jaws, a change of position of 90 as compared with the position of the pad in the first pair of jaws; while the pad or bat Il and the restraining sleeve` 69 are held in position between the second pair of jaws 53 and 55. The

second or outer wrapping, which preferably comy prises a bag member 13 of heavy kraft paper, or other suitable sheet material, open only at one end, is slid over the jaws as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 6. The longitudinal axis of the bag 13 thus extends at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the sleeve 69 and to the lines of creping in the constituent. When the bottom of this bag 13 reaches the end of the pad or bat I I and its confining sleeve 69, theentire combination may be removed as a unit by simply pulling it away from the jaws 53 and 55, the cut-away V-shaped slots 51 which are provided in the jaws and the cantilever type support for the jaws facilitating this operation. The end 15 of the outer bag covering 13 may then be folded over and sealed in the usual manner as illustrated in Fig. 9.

The above described procedure constitutes a most satisfactory means of packaging products of the described type. Apparently because of the provision of the inner restraining sleeve 69 and the outer bag covering 13, and the location of those elements with the maximum strength portions thereof extending at right angles to each other, the normal tendency of the compressed pad or bat II to expand and to buckle is coml .pletely prevented. At the same time, when it is very satisfactory package, it may be practiced at very low cost.

As an alternative to the packaging procedure described above, the inner wrapping or container may comprise a bag of paper, fabric, or other suitable sheet material, and-for certain purposes this packaging arrangement possesses particular advantages. A package which' includes this type of inner wrapping is shown in Figs. and 11, and it will be noted that the bag member 11 is of substantially the same shape and dimensions as the compressed, multi-ply pad or bat II which is contained therein. The sides of the bag 11 are closed, so as to form a retaining sleeve which is generally similar to the retaining lsleeve 69, by overlapping ledges 19 adhesively attached together, and one of the ends of 'the bag is closed y by a folded-over ap 8I which is glued or otherwise attached in place as illustrated. The other end of the bagis left open, as illustrated in Fig. 11, and it is desirable that the ldepth of the bag should be equal to or slightly less than the width of the pad or bat I I when measured in a direction lengthwise of y the creping in the constituent sheets.

The bag 11 is applied to the pad or bat Il in substantially the same manner as the sleeve 69 in the previously described procedure, that is, the bag 11 is slipped over the cantilevered jaws `33 and 35 located at the discharge end of the recompressor unit, prior to the recompressing operation andv the recompressed pad or bat Il is discharged directly into the bag 11 at the conclusion of the recompressing operation. The longitudinal axis of the bag 15 extends parallel to the lines of creping in the sheets which make up the pad II. The bag 11 with the pad or bat Il in place therein may then be removed from the jaws 33 and 35 by grasping both the pad and the bag in the area of the cut-out slots 31 and pulling both units out of the open ,end of the Jaws.

Following this operation, an outer bag cover- 45 ing 83 which may be generally similar to the bag covering 13 is applied to the combination of the pad Il and the bag 11 in substantially the same manner as in the previously described embodiment. The resultant package eifectively retains 50 the pad or bat II in the compressed state without buckling. At the same time it is air-tight, and the contents can be rendered surgically sterile by conventional sterilization procedures. Also of importance the actual packaging means occupy 55 very little bulk and do not materially increase the weight of the product. Similarly to the previously described package, the retention of the compressed pad or bat II against expansion and 4without tendency toy buckling appears to result` 460 from the provision of the dual restraining sleeves provided by the inner open ended bag 19 and the outer sealed bag 83, which are so positioned that the longitudinal axes thereof extend at right angles to each other.`

Various other packaging procedures embodying the principlesdisclosed in the foregoing may be suggested to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, it -is desired that the accompanying claims' should be accorded the broadest reasonable construction consistent with the language appearing therein and the prior art.

We claim: 1. The method of packaging a multi-ply. pre viously compressed and expanded, creped, cellulosic pad of the class described. which comprises ness of the pad substantially uniform. restraining 7- J v the steps of recompressing the pad in a lengthwise direction while maintaining the width and-thickthe recompressed pad against longitudinal expansion or buckling vwhile a' sleeve member having longitudinal and peripheral dimensions substantially equal to the equivalent dimensions of the recompressed pad is placed about said recompressed pad, and then 'applying a close tting, outer covering including a sleeve portion to the combination of said pad and sleeve so that said outer covering extends at right angles to said first mentioned sleeve.

2. The method of packaging a muti-ply,v previously compressed and expanded, creped, cellu-' losic pad of the class described which comprises the steps of recompressingthe pad to the dimensions desired in the iinal package, applying aat right angles to the restraining inuence exerted by said iirst mentioned sleeve.

3. The method of packaging a multi-ply, previously compressed and expanded, creped, cellulosic pad of the class described which comprises the steps of providing a rectangularly shaped pad of the said material wherein the creping in the constituent sheets of said pad extends at right angles to the longitudinal axis thereof, recompressing the pad transversely of the direction of said creping to the dimensions desired in the iinal package, applying a ilat. rectangularly shaped coniining sleeve to said recompressed pad while said pad is held ilat and against expansion or buckling, said confining sleeve' having substantially the same longitudinal and perimetrical" dimensions as said recompressed pad and the longitudinal axis thereof extending substantially parallel to the lines of creping in said pad, ap-

plying an outer-wrapping which comprises a flat,-

rectangularly shaped bag to the combination of said sleeve and pad with the longitudinal axis of said bag extending perpendicular to the lines of creping in said pad, the dimensions ot said bag being only slightly greater than the corresponding dimensions of said pad and sleeve 'combination, 'and sealing said outer bag- 4. The method of packaging multi-ply pads of celluiosic sheet material, which pads have been separated from multi-ply webs of said material compressed edgewise in the direction of the length of the web without substantially changing its .thickness and width, vand which pads have been permitted to expand somewhat during the preparation and delivery thereof for packaging purposes, which consists in recompressing the pad to a predetermined dimension without materially changing the other dimensions of the pad, applying to said pad a wrapper extending therearound in the direction in which the pad is recompressed, saidr wrapper being of suilicient strength to retain the pad in its recompressed form. and applying to said pad and outsideof said wrapper, another wrapper extending around the pad transversely ofthe direction of said mst-mentioned wrapper,

said other wrapper serving to impart to the package resistance against buckling whereby the multi-ply pad is maintained in fiat, recompressed form.

5. 'I'he method of packaging multi-ply pads of cellulosic sheet material, which pads have been separated from multi-ply webs of said material compressed edgewise in the direction of the length ofthe web without substantially changing its thickness and width, and which pads have been permitted to expand somewhat during .the preparation and delivery thereof for packaging purposes. which consists in recompressing the pad to a predetermined dimension without materiallychanging the other dimensions of the pad, applying to said pad a wrapper extending therearound in the direction 'in which the pad is recompressed, said wrapper being of sulcient strength to retain the pad in its recompressed form, and applying to said pad and outside of said wrapper, another wrapper extending around the pad transversely of the direction of said rstmentioned wrapper, said' other wrapper serving to impart to the package resistance against buckling whereby the multi-ply pad is maintained in at, recompressed form, said inner wrapper being in the form of an open-ended tube or sleeve, said outer wrapper being of bag-like form having one end closed by refolding a collamed mouth portion of the bag over the package.

' CHARLES A; FOURNESS. KENNETH J. HARWOOD. 

